Toying With Fate
by Kaffe Kane
Summary: The second installment of "Metroid Saga". Third chapter now up. Yeah, I know I'm taking my sweet time with these. R/R.
1. Mysterious Gennom Child, Catocs

This story is set a year after 'Return Of The Queen'.  
In case anyone hasn't noticed, this and the previous  
story are Metroid/DBZ/variety crossovers. I don't  
know how many I'll make, but the series will be called  
Metroid Saga.  
  
------------------  
  
Prelude: The Next Tournament Approaches  
  
Goku and Radditz were inside the training room that  
Hardy had orginally set up for Ridley with the level  
of gravity set to 50 times normal. Since the day  
that Goku found out about his race and remaining  
family, he had decided to begin training even harder  
to become stronger.  
  
Goku had a slight edge, as Samus had told Goku about  
the gravity room two months before the others even  
noticed, so he was stronger than Nappa when all was  
said and done. He wanted to be strong enough to beat  
Samus in the tournament, because when he and Radditz  
first met, he was told he had a long way to go.  
  
The council meeting that occured three weeks after  
they arrived had approved of the addition of Green to  
the Federation. No one was really shocked at this,  
but at the survival of Prince Vegeta, heads had turned.  
The Saiya-jins were represented by Duke Vyndair of  
Bigetta. Vyndair had wanted to turn the position of  
representation and the ruling name of the Saiya-jin back  
to Vegeta as quickly as possible, and Vegeta was  
coronated as King only days after the discovery of his  
survival.  
  
None of this really concerned Goku, but somehow he was  
seeing it all again. And in vivid detail, as though he  
had been enraptured by everything...when he was more like  
Hardy, and was enraptured by the food. He and Radditz  
had been sparring, and even if distracted by a trip down  
a memory lane that he hadn't cared about, he was still  
beating Radditz as thought Radditz hadn't improved at all.  
  
"Stop for a moment, brother. I can tell that you're not  
giving me your all." Goku walked over to the gravity  
machine and set it to the normal level.  
  
"You're right. It just recently started to bother me,  
but I just remembered the whole year as though I'd  
paid attention to every last detail. Akyasuma's escape,  
Vegeta becoming King, even Capsule Corp. making a branch  
here. It's disturbing, I even remember the incessant  
squabbles between Samus and Ridley while playing that  
one game...but what it's called...I don't remember!"  
Radditz chuckles and opens the door.  
  
"Maybe you're getting old!" Goku walks out after Radditz.  
  
"Nah, it's a bit early for either of us to be past our  
prime." Watching silently from a vent in the ceiling  
is a humanoid thin enough to fit inside the duct. He  
wags his black tail slightly and skitters away into a  
storage room, where he crawls out of the duct and  
brushes small dust bunnies out of his magenta parachute  
pants. He runs across the hall so fast that he's unseen  
by anyone who was in the hallway, and up a stairwell,  
where he slows down to a visible blur of the color of his  
pants. He stops at the edge of a roof and leaps from  
building to building until he slips and nosedives for the  
ground. Halfway down, he prepares for a handspring when-  
  
POOF...His only article of attire aside of long gold wrist  
and ankle bracers lives up to its name and acts like a  
parachute. A few people along the streets look up and  
think that a balloon got loose until he lands on the ground,  
flips to his feet and sprints off after the two Saiya-jin  
brothers. He stops a little ways away from the registration  
desk at the entrance to a large forum-like building, behind  
a tree.  
  
Goku feels a brush of wind from the boy's stop and looks  
around. Knowing that someone else was around but not where.  
  
"Hey, Radditz. Did you feel that?" Radditz looks up from  
the desk after signing in a partially illegible handwriting.  
  
"What? Scared of the boogey man, little brother?" Just then  
Royce and Kefka appear. Kefka walks up between the two to  
sign on as a judge.  
  
"How about the boogey women? Hee-hee-hee-hee!" Goku grins  
and walks inside the forum.  
  
"Very funny, Kefka...very funny."  
  
------------------  
  
Metroid Saga, Part 2  
Toying With Fate  
  
  
Chapter 1: The Gennom Child, Catocs  
  
"Samus, Ridley, Hardy, Houston, Goku, Radditz, Vegeta, Nappa,  
Recoome, Jeice, Burter, Capt. Ginyu, Royce...oh, Kefka's a  
judge. She must know how much more powerful she is than the  
others...anyway...uh...lesse...oh yeah! Catocs, uhm...Gohan?!  
Hey! I thought that Chi-Chi didn't want Gohan to...never mind.  
Chi-Chi, Piccolo, Guldo...uh...who's this guy? Okay! Yamcha,  
Krillin, ub...geez, gimme the list!" The announcer looks at  
the smaller, yet still humoungous crew of elite fighters that  
stand inside the area ready for the elimination round.  
  
"Hey, Krillin? Why didn't Tien and Chiaotzu show up?" Krillin  
looks at Yamcha funny.  
  
"I suppose that you forgot that Bulma didn't think about taking  
them along with us! Besides, they didn't even know that we  
were leaving!"  
  
"Oh." The annoucer looks at the list of checked names.  
  
"Lesse, who haven't we numbered for the elimination round yet?  
Ah, here we are. Hmm...Tien and Ch-Chitzaou?" A small voice  
pipes up from behind.  
  
"Chiaotzu!" Yamcha looks behind him and sees a tall, muscular  
man with three eyes and a small clown-faced being stand in the  
back.  
  
"Tien! How did you two get here? (Right. Chiaotzu, Codru...)"  
Tien chuckles.  
  
"The old man Breifs told us that Goku and everyone left for  
space, he knew exactly where and sent us on his prototype  
spaceship. Yeah, he proved to the Federation that it works.  
Although he said the only flaw was that it didn't have a  
cappuchino maker." Everyone facefalls except for Tien.  
"But that wasn't an issue. They all come with a gravity  
training machine, though. I guess for those who want to be  
prepared for combat, or want to have a good workout on long  
trips. Either way, me and Chiaotzu are much stronger than  
before, now." The announcer looks around and calls loudly.  
  
"I know I already called for him, but where's Catocs? He's  
Number 14 and his first match is against Piccolo!" He looks  
over at the arena to see both contenders in the ring already.  
"Oh. Looks like he's hard to...THAT TWIG IS CATOCS?!"  
The boy looks at the announcer.  
  
"Twig, huh? This green bean's no match for me. I could name  
seven others that don't stand a ghost of a chance also."  
Piccolo, hearing every word, puts on a scowl.  
  
"Green bean?! Just name the other seven!!" Catocs folds his  
arms.  
  
"I don't wanna. It'd spoil the fun, but I will give you a hint.  
It's whoever gets in the ring with me." Piccolo is sent sailing  
from the ring immediately after he finishes his sentence, no one  
seeing a single thing but Catocs standing there.  
  
"D...did you see anything?!" Goku looks at Vegeta and the other  
Saiya-jins. Nappa blinks in amazement.  
  
"Uh...no." Radditz shook his head and looked at Goku.  
  
"Brother, I would have, but he's too fast!" Vegeta just stands  
between the other two Saiya-jin Stooges in his usual cross-armed  
pose.  
  
"Hmph...he was a blur, Kakkarotto." Catocs looks at Vegeta.  
  
"I'm impressed. You actually saw me, but unfortunately your  
matches aren't with me." Vegeta got set up to the second  
arena of the four. Goku and Radditz to the third, and Nappa  
to the fourth, which he dreaded because Samus and Houston  
were there.  
  
"Next up! Chi-Chi versus Domon Kashu, The King of Hearts!"  
The announcer calls out. Chi-Chi and Domon both step up to  
the ring and bow. They get into stance and the match begins  
with Chi-Chi and Domon in a flurry of blocking and punching.  
  
"The School of the Undefeated of the East!"  
  
"Tempo Kyare!" Both shout simultaneously after one last  
punch.  
  
"LOOK, THE EAST IS BURNING RED!!" Flames engluf the ring  
and Chi-Chi flies out into a wall. The announcer calls  
the next pair.  
  
"Jeice versus Burter!" Both step in and do their intro  
poses. They then produce one of the most intense battles  
between each other that Recoome had ever watched. They  
only sparred for fun, but this was a match for money, fame  
and a title.  
  
Jeice swung left, straight right, high right kick to the  
head, dodged Burter's double palm punch aimed at his face,  
fired a small energy blast, and kicked Burter into the  
second arena while he was distracted. Vegeta punted Burter  
back into his arena and Jeice slammed him into the ground  
with an axe handle swing.  
  
"Jeice wins by knockout! Tien versus Recoome!" This  
match went quick. In the middle of Recoome's pose, he  
fell out of the arena by a hit in the stomach from Tien.  
  
"Hardy was right about you guys...well, maybe not about  
the pansy part, but over-posing? Definitely."  
  
-----------------  
  
The last match of the third arena was Master Asia and  
Chiaotzu. Asia had been in stance, looking at the  
little 'clown-boy', wondering why he didn't make a  
move. Domon piped up from the crowds.  
  
"Master! Don't let his silence shake you!" Just then,  
Chiaotzu pointed at Asia, making him drop his guard  
slightly.  
  
"...Geezer!" Asia facefalls at Chiaotzu's one word  
attack and is shoved out of the ring. Yet Chiaotzu  
stayed in the same place.  
  
"Huh? Impossible!"  
  
"The Undefeated of the East?! Beaten by that runt?!"  
Domon walks up to Asia.  
  
"Looks like you shouldn't let what he says shake you,  
either." Domon helps Asia off the ground.  
  
"Right, Domon Kashu versus Catocs!" Domon's face had  
drained of color. He was the seventh one against  
Catocs.  
  
They both got into the ring, but Catocs was assuming  
the same pose that Vegeta had. Domon kept telling  
himself not to be afraid of someone like this kid.  
He could see the boy's movements the whole time.  
Although it was like he was progressively gettting  
faster every time. He wouldn't...couldn't blink  
for a moment after the match began. If he did, he  
would be out faster than his eyes could open and  
close.  
  
"Begin!" It happened so fast that Domon thought that  
he did the one thing that he had no intention of doing.  
He was elbowed so hard that he only barely saw Catocs  
in front of him before the boy moved back to his starting  
position and pose, and Domon was backing to the edge,  
about to fall out of the ring himself. He hits his knees  
and gets kicked in the face, sending him to the ground  
and out of the ring, also.  
  
"Like I said. Seven others don't stand a chance against  
me." Domon was humiliated, infuriated, and on top of  
that, in total disbelief. This boy was holding back the  
whole nine yards. How was it even possible for someone  
to be so fast and powerful that even the elites that had  
came by stood no chance? How was it possible for him to  
be so strong and yet be scrawnier than Tsai-Tsai Shi?  
He got up, confused, angry, and feeling the pain in his  
face more than anything. The announcer walked to the  
back of the room and said to the crowd.  
  
"Well now. Eight fighters have made it past the elimination  
round. Samus, Houston, Ridley, Hardy, Catocs, Royce, Goku,  
and Chiatzou (Chiaotzu!). You will all be paired in that  
order." Catocs looked at Royce, who just stared at the  
lineup of the final matches.  
  
'This one's gonna be trouble...I know it, cause she's a  
Metroid. I hope that she's not invincible...I heard that  
Metroids become invincible after they take enough energy.'  
Royce continues to stare at the board with the match-ups.  
  
'Unbelieveable...that boy has more energy than any of them  
assume...let's just see what the exact level is...ah-ha! More  
than enough for me to win without question...I can't kill him,  
but if I do take what I need, he'll live, he just won't be  
winning this one.' Royce walks into the waiting area and just  
sits on one of the benches. It was gonna be a bit of a wait  
considering just how long the first two matches were going to  
be.  
  
-------------------  
  
The first semi-final match ended up to be Samus vs. Ridley.  
Royce got up from the bench and walked to the entrance, past  
a nearly pork-roasted Hardy (only what was left of his hair  
got singed.), and up to Catocs. They both begin walking to  
the ring, and when they stop, Royce was the first to speak.  
  
"Come at me. You're fast enough to beat anyone here."  
Catocs folds his arms.  
  
"I'm not stupid. I know what you are, Royce. And I catch  
that you plot me as a tool, right?" Royce steps back and  
hunches over slightly.  
  
"How?! You caught onto me that fast, before I even-" She  
gets interrupted by an elbow to the face, which knocks her  
back two steps. She grabbed Catocs by the right arm and was  
about to tighten her grip to begin siphoning energy from him  
when she gets kneed in the face. Her hand slips down to his  
and she grabs it tightly, bowling Catocs over with her lack  
of balance. He tries to loosen her grip on him, but can't,  
the pain of the siphon worse than having his tail caught on  
an oven burner. He knew what that felt like because he had  
burned his tail twice in a row on accident with a waffle  
iron a couple years ago.  
  
"Ag...let...me...GO!!!" He kicks Royce as hard as he can  
in her stomach, causing her to buckle and let go of him.  
She clutches herself where she was just recently struck and  
falls over. She can barely mutter out various, colorful,  
words, and just rolled around once, trying to stand but  
falling to the ground again. The announcer's count reached  
8 when she finally managed to stand up, still in pain.  
  
"H...hurk...that hurt, you little-" She gets kicked in the  
face before Catocs does a rampant combo and a dropkick that  
sent her to the edge of the ring.  
  
"You're not getting up after that, are you?" As if on cue  
to prove him wrong, she halfway stands up, hunched over,  
and gets another kick in the face that sent her only two  
feet from the ring.  
  
Royce most certainly didn't think about him even hitting her  
in the stomach, not even out of desparation. That turned  
the match over for them both. She was about to become  
invincible as Catocs feared, and she loses because of chance.  
Sheer dumb luck that he hit her in a Metroid's weakest spot.  
  
-------------------  
  
Two days later..  
  
Goku was rattled at what Catocs was saying in their match.  
What made Frieza so important to him? What did a Super  
Saiya-jin look like? Why couldn't he still become one?  
Maybe he'd probably just squandered a chance on the weird  
occurances that were caused by the X. No Frieza, no hunt  
for Namek's Dragonballs, no race to stop Frieza from  
becoming immortal, no titanic battle that ultimately forced  
Goku to ascend to becoming the Super Saiya-jin. What didn't  
make sense was why did he say that history was malinged?  
What was so dangerous on Goku's planet that required him being  
many, many times stronger than what he was? He was training  
alone with the gravity level set to 120.  
  
Goku was furious at the mocking and taunting that Catocs still  
had left in him even after a rather painful encounter with Royce  
Felder, the Queen Metroid. What was so dangerous that was on his  
home planet? Why was he still not strong enough to face it?  
He couldn't help but feel the deepest rage, losing to Catocs, and  
whenever he saw that 'runt', he couldn't help but that rage being  
like a pen through a really well-shaken soda can. He hated Catocs  
more than Vegeta hated Goku. His attitude to the others was quite  
different. Bulma had felt that he was depressed after the match.  
  
Domon, before leaving, couldn't help but see a connection. He was  
outclassed by the same person, but he drew a different similarity.  
Schwartz Brueder to himself, and Catocs to Goku. This 'Super  
Saiya-jin', was probably like the serene state of mind that Schwartz  
was trying to teach him. Serene nothing. 'The Super Saiya-jin only  
feels the pain of anger, hatred, and loss. Other than that...there  
probably is no difference to the similarity.'  
  
Goku didn't hear the secret to becoming one, but he probably never  
knew what to do with that exponential power that he kept trying to  
hold back whenever Catocs was in sight. Since he was alone, he  
could probably let it out then and there. But he didn't see Catocs  
anywhere, and was only blowing off steam to try and be a bit more  
cheerful for his wife and child's sake. They didn't think that  
Goku's loss hit him so hard. Gohan kept trying to tell him that  
Catocs wasn't bad, he just knew things that didn't happen because  
of a different occurance.  
  
How did Catocs know, and what other secrets was he holding back...?  
Goku set the gravity back to normal and left for the apartment that  
was across the way, to go back to Chi-Chi and Gohan...maybe he'd  
go help Gohan with his homework, training just didn't cut it for him  
right now... 


	2. Metroid in a Mall

Chapter 2: A Metroid In A Mall  
  
Lots of people think that we're vicious animals, but I don't think we  
know what our identity really is. Another thing is people wondering if  
we can see. Kinda stupid, really, we can see all around us, which is  
kinda disorienting, so we focus on just one thing. I heard from some   
of the older kids a few hours after I hatched that we were made by the   
Chozo...what's a Chozo? Is it edible? Anyway, back to my little   
story.  
  
It was just a day after being hatched when I went to this big place  
that had lots of people in it. I was looking for Mommy, since I never  
saw anyone to care for me. I was floating in between the crowds and I  
saw two people, one was green and wearing a cape, and there was one  
that was wearing a lot of orange. So I flew in between them and the  
one in orange ran away really fast, I don't think I would have caught  
up to him, but the green one was about to hit me, so I bit him. I let  
go when he yelped not because I hurt him but because his energy tasted  
bad. Yucky, remind myself not to eat Piccolo, I think...and then I  
floated up to a fat guy sitting at a table.  
  
"Week! Week-eek...eek!" He threw his sandwich at me and I grabbed it  
and all the stuff in the middle fell on another green guy in a brown  
robe. He started yelling at the fat guy so I just put the bread back  
on the plate and went someplace else, I don't think that the green guy  
saw me this time. I was hovering outside of a store called...Ber..Ber,  
oh, I couldn't read it anyway, but I went inside and saw a bunch of   
what the people called 'Tee-bees'. Tee-bees are big boxes with moving  
pictures, and what the tee-bees had on was...uh...that guy in orange  
that ran away, and his hair was big and yellow, and he was fighting a  
big pink guy, and other tee-bees had something on where big metal  
monsters were chasing each other and making a weird noise. I could do  
that noise and I was flying around in circles, too! "Eeeeeeeeeeeeer!  
Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeer!" And then I crashed like one of the monsters  
into a shelf of boxes, and people were looking around to see what was  
going on so I flew into a rack of soft things. I think that two of   
them saw where I went and they parted the soft things to see me. Hey!  
Mommies! Which one? Oh! I was flying around both of them in panic,  
and they were talking to each other until one with red hair caught me.  
  
.oO(Relax. Samus wouldn't know what to do with you, so you're going  
back with me.) Back with her? I wonder if I was in trouble, but I  
didn't feel that way. This was Mommy...I just knew it.  
  
[For the record, a near newly-hatched Metroid was inside a mall,  
encounters Goku and Piccolo, catches Hardy's sandwich, which falls  
onto Keaton, goes into Bergner's, where Samus and Royce were looking  
for clothes for Houston (Stupid smelly t-shirts and old jock straps).  
They spot the Metroid around the TV's, circling around until it runs  
into a shelf of computer games, and then flies into a bunch of dresses.  
It circles Royce and Samus until Royce grabs it and they leave the  
store.]  
  
-------------------  
  
"That was weird, wouldn't you agree?" Samus looks at the four bags  
full of all kinds of funny-looking clothes that Royce had, the baby  
Metroid nestled in the third bag. "Although I'm wondering if you were  
buying for yourself."  
  
"No. I'd like to see Houston try these on for a joke. We're taking  
pictures of him in all his new clothes, aren't we?" Samus lit up.  
  
"Pictures! I forgot that we'll need enough camera film!" Royce waves  
for a moment and sees Piccolo walk by, glaring at the sleeping Metroid.  
Apparently she didn't know that it bit him minutes ago.  
  
"Relax, I've got that covered. We've got how many outfits for him?"  
  
"56." Royce starts to continue walking.  
  
"I told you I did. We've got twice that amount of exposures from that  
three pack of 35mm film that I bought." Bulma walks into a restaurant   
at the same time that Samus and Royce walk into it also.  
  
"Well, looks like I'm not the only one of our little group who loads  
up on bags of clothes and makeup." Samus sets the bags down by a   
table, as do Royce and Bulma.  
  
"Makeup? No. We were buying new clothes for Houston. I'm not one  
for makeup, anyway. When you're a bounty hunter, mascara just gets  
in the way. What all did you get, and for who? I see eight bags."  
  
"Oh! Three bags are various brands of makeup and hair care products,  
four of them are clothes for me, one for Vegeta, one for Goku, one for  
Nappa, that was tough to find clothes his size, and one for Radditz.  
They really need something to wear aside of just one outfit, since all   
that they brought was one outfit...and they could stand bathing, too,  
so I'm going to go to a department store to buy lots of soap, deodor-  
ant, and shampoo for all of them." Samus looks inside the bag of the  
clothes that she bought for Vegeta. All tasteless color matches that  
would most certainly leave anyone laughing at Vegeta for life. There  
were 'BADMAN' decals on all the shirts. Pink and pea-green. Purple  
and polka dots. This was practially golf attire! She stifles a  
laugh.  
  
"Buying gag gifts for Vegeta? HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!!! Pink! Saiya-jins  
hate pink! Although, I think that you did find the right clothing  
name for him...BADMAN suits someone like him well...pink." Samus  
starts to laugh hysterically again while Goku walks up to the group.  
  
"Hey, why's she laughing?" Bulma holds up the bag of golf clothes.  
  
"Oh, just what I bought for Vegeta." Bulma blushes.  
  
"Ggh! PINK?! I didn't know he liked pink! AAGH! What do you plan  
on doing, giving him a career as a clown?!" Goku holds the pink shirt  
and polka-dotted pants together in front of him and Samus falls off   
the chair, howling in laughter. Vegeta just happened to walk by and  
see Goku holding the ridiculous clothes.  
  
'Oh, geez...I hope that none of that is for me...I really do...'  
  
----------------  
  
Bulma had walked over to the apartment where Nappa and Vegeta were  
staying and left a bag of clothes and soaps for each of them. She  
had taken care to label them also, so that at least one of them  
would know what was for who. She then went to the ground floor to go  
visit Goku and give him and Radditz their bags. Samus and Royce both  
had to force Houston to fulfill his end of the bargain. Royce had  
four bags of outfits, far more tacky than Bulma's golf-clothing color  
scheme for Vegeta, while Samus had only two bags of various underwear.  
The Metroid just floated around the apartment and was looking at an  
inactive 'tee-bee'. It landed on the TV squeaking "Bee-bee!" at  
Royce.  
  
"Bee-bee? Oh. Tee-bee." Royce points to the TV. Samus laughs as  
Houston walks out in his first outfit.  
  
"I feel frillier than Kefka." Royce takes a picture and they move on  
to the next ridiculous outfit.  
  
----------------  
  
Goku was inside the training room alone again, the gravity set to 125.  
He wasn't angry anymore, at least, not if he thought about it. Yet he  
still felt his thoughts while training gravitating toward what had  
happened that match. He couldn't help but feel anger when his  
thoughts lingered there. He didn't even notice Catocs watching  
through the window as he started to shadow box furiously. He never  
held anything against Goku, really. But what did he do that made Goku  
so angry? Was him saying that he was going to be sorely defeated just  
because of a change in the history that he knew? He looked over at  
Gul'Gen.  
  
"You know about what was supposed to happen, right?" Gul'Gen looks  
at Catocs with partially pleading eyes.  
  
"Tell me that my vision of seeing them all die before they ascend  
isn't true. Please tell me that it isn't. I...can't stand what  
happened. Staring in a mirror and daydreaming about them. And  
then the mirror suddenly shattered all its own. It was an omen. A...  
a very bad omen. I can't find any other way to interpret it. You,  
and the others..." Catocs puts a hand on Gul'Gen's shoulder.  
  
"It is wrong. I'll make sure of it. Fate can't force anything.  
Fate can't control anything but what we cannot change. What we can  
change, however, is the course of lives close to us. You leave the  
Saiya-jin to me. When the time is right for each of them, they will  
ascend." Gul'Gen shakes his head.  
  
"No. I can't. You were the last vision in that mirror before it  
suddenly went pitch black and shattered. I get the unshakable feeling  
that...that...well..." Catocs turns away from Gul'Gen.  
  
"I see. You're the second person who actually noticed. That legend.  
'Where once every 1000 years, a Super Saiya-jin is born...once every  
5000 years, a Saiya-jin of unimagniable power, both in light and  
shadow shall emerge. This Saiya-jin has the strength and the-'"  
Gul'Gen stops Catocs.  
  
"Nature of darkness itself...I know that legend. The Shadow  
Saiya-jin. You, boy, are the light half. I can't imagine what the  
dark half would be...and I don't think you should ever let it come  
forth." Catocs looks at Goku. Goku was staring at the two of them  
the whole time. He felt like Goku was staring right into him. His  
body felt like ice. He was afraid, because of what Gul'Gen gave a  
cue.  
  
'...Don't be afraid of me. I'm not a threat.' "Yes you are. The  
Old Bird even knows it." 'Does he now? I can't come forth. You  
and the others are safe.' "Who are you?" 'I am Kuja...a Gennom.  
But I am also a dark spirit, one I believe that the ancient Seda  
calls Yami. I won't threaten you or hurt anyone. You can either  
use me to conquer or to protect.' "I want to protect...to protect  
Goku and Vegeta, the others, too." 'Then I will do as you wish,  
whenever you need me.' Gul'Gen looked at Catocs the whole time,  
paralyzed with fear. Catocs shakes his head.  
  
"It's alright. I promise." Gul'Gen changed from just standing  
still to shaking, like a leaf on a tree in heavy winds.  
  
"You...actually contacted it...a-and...and..." Gul'Gen sat on a  
bench. "Now this...this is extraordinary. You control both parts.  
So that's why you're so strong."  
  
"I don't control it. (I don't understand. Why would you protect me?  
What is so important?) Huh? (You hear me, don't you? It's Goku. I  
can't believe that I'm doing this, but it feels like I've always been  
able to.)"  
  
'Goku...I'm sorry if I hurt you. (That's alright. You pushed me to  
make myself stronger. But I was also frustrated. What are you hiding  
from us?) Four things, actually. Cell...Majin Buu...Amroth...and the  
mad doctor Akyasuma. (Hm. Who are they?) All still far stronger  
than you, I can tell ya that. (HEY!! No fair! I still have to train  
more?! You little...ugh, I oughtta...) No getting mad at me for it.  
Wait...I have an idea. Get as mad as you want at me. (Huh? Why? I  
don't think that it'll prove anything.) Trust me, Goku. You've got  
the strength to handle it now. Let your anger go.' Catocs walks into  
the training room and stands in front of Goku.  
  
"You don't understand yet, do you? I've felt you trying to ascend to  
the Super Saiya-jin before. You weren't strong enough to handle the  
extreme amount of pain that you felt. Physically, emotionally, and  
mentally. It's even excruciating to maintain the ascension. But  
when you actually do it, you can hold it better than achieve it. The  
power that you feel alongside of your pain allows you to handle the  
stress better. Watch." Catocs gathers his energy to the highest  
point of his power and then lets out a piercing howl that seems to  
have its orientation around pain. His hair, which hung down, had now  
begun to stand up, the aura of his energy turning yellow, and the  
irises of his eyes aqua-green. A burst which momentarily shook the  
ground and pushed a veil of dust away from Catocs signified the end of  
the transformation. His hair had slightly matched the color of his  
aura, were it not for the aura, it would not have looked gold. It was  
standing up in short, thick tufts, also. Catocs lets out his breath.  
  
"This...is the appearance of a Super Saiya-jin. I was able to use it  
during the tournament, but Ridley wasn't really that tough, either,  
and besides...I wouldn't have had the time. That took roughly one  
minute to do, one minute that could have sent me out of the the ring."  
Goku stared at Catocs in awe. His power was humoungous, far greater  
than it was before. It felt like he was millions of times more  
powerful. "One more thing. If you want to ascend to this level, you  
are going to have to fight against it!" 


	3. Bitter Defeat

Chapter 3: Bitter Defeat...  
  
Goku had barely got into stance when Catocs was onto him like a  
mauling lion. His speed and strength were amazing, unlike even any  
of his opponents that he had been beaten by before. He wasn't just  
impressed, he was awestruck. And the weird thing was that with each  
painful blow, he was enjoying this fight more.  
  
Catocs finished his nearly 57 hit series of attacks with a kick that  
sent Goku to the roof. Goku's whole body felt like his bones were  
ground into dust, yet he still stood up to try and fight back. He  
put his hands behind and to the side of himself, cupped together like  
a bowl. He gathered as much energy as he could for the waylaid state  
that he was just put in.  
  
"Ka...me...ha...me..." He then noticed Catocs in the same pose.  
This wasn't good. He was gonna be overpowered by his own signature  
attack.  
  
"Kamehamesappo!" The energy from Goku's Kamehameha was taken  
into the beam from Catocs' attack, swirling around it like Piccolo's  
Special Beam Cannon. It struck Goku full-on, not penetrating so much  
as it was grinding with burning energy against him. He fell back  
after two seconds of the blast's impact. His breathing was labored,  
but he couldn't give up. What would he think of himself? Maybe just  
outclassed. After all, Catocs was a Super Saiya-jin right now, and  
he didn't know what to do. He was losing, and the pain of the battle  
was-  
  
The pain...it was numbing. He could barely stand up, but he couldn't  
feel the pain. He decided that it was now that he would. He was  
growing light-headed from over-exertion even without trying to ascend.  
  
'Now or later, Goku...so let's try it now!' Goku tried to reach deep  
for that seething hatred that he felt for Catocs the days before. He  
couldn't tell how far down the depths of a Super Saiya-jin's power  
went, even if he felt the simultaneous plunge and rise of Catocs in  
his energy. He was dizzy, but had to keep trying. He gathered all  
the power that he had left to try even harder than he was. His hair  
started to drift upward and swing side to side lazily. Was he doing  
it? He couldn't tell, not unless he turned to see. 'No...if I don't  
focus, I can't do it.' He didn't dare try to look anywhere, he kept  
trying to reach for that power. He was feeling exhasuted and yet was  
still willing to keep up the effort. He couldn't feel anything in  
his body anymore, his sight was starting to darken. 'No...NO! I  
can't quit...not...now...' Goku fell to the ground...passed out  
from the pain and exhaustion of the short battle. Catocs had stood  
back to give him a chance and time to ascend, if he could. Apparently  
he still couldn't.  
  
'Apparently...I've been hitting you too hard.'  
  
-----------------  
  
Chi-Chi was mad at both Catocs and Goku for what happened to Goku.  
When Goku woke up again, he asked for a small brown bag that sat on  
the dresser. He takes out a small bean from inside the bag and eats  
it. He gets up, puts on a new gi, a solid black one. When he had  
asked Bulma why she only got black ones, she said that they thought  
that orange was a color too crazy for everything that she bought.  
Well, pink and polka dots are rather wild...especially for Vegeta.  
  
He didn't mind it, really. The color of an outfit only mattered to  
Vegeta. He went back to the training room and set the gravity at 150.  
  
-----------------  
  
An old man wearing a heavy purple turtle shell walks around in the  
same mall where Royce and Samus were hours ago. He looks at all the  
beautiful girls, lingerie magazines, and watching TV's that had women  
doing workout routines.  
  
"Ehh-heh-heh-hehh...Bulma's right, lots of pretty ladies everywhere!"  
Roshi bumps into Tien, who was standing in a crowd with Chiaotzu and  
Krillin, watching Yamcha step up to a challenge against an Omega   
Metroid that was rather haughty on itself. It said something in Chozo  
and ran, more like plodded heavily, forward. Yamcha struck it   
repeatedly in the face. It swatted Yamcha away, unaffected. He lands  
on his feet and aims this time for it's stomach with a hard kick. It  
took the blow and buckled over, stumbling backward and almost tipped  
over the railing around an open spot between the first and second  
floors. Yamcha kicked it in the face to try and send it over the   
railing, which works, as it backs into the railing and crashes through  
it to the ground.  
  
"Huh. So they were right about a weakness. Too bad. If it were the  
real deal, I'd bet it wouldn't even have a weak point." The Metroid  
gets up and leaps back onto the second floor. Roshi spots a crack in  
the floor begin to widen. He takes his turtle shell off and throws it  
at the Metroid, which only paid its attention to Yamcha, knocking it  
off of the cracking floor.  
  
"MOVE, NOW!!" Yamcha leaps off the ground and grabs a ceiling light as  
the floor beneath falls to the ground floor. Samus looks at the Metroid  
as it gets up and looks around.  
  
"(What hit me?!)" It looks at the purple turtle shell. Roshi walks  
around the crowd and takes the shell, putting it back on. He then walks  
away after waiting for Yamcha and the others to leave, also. "(You!  
Old fart! How dare you! I was going to finish that battle!)"  
  
Roshi turns around and looks up at its head. "No, you weren't. You  
were still in too much pain to fight back...and no one wins by taunting,  
either. Not only that, but Yamcha doesn't understand Chozo. I don't  
myself, but I picked onto what you were saying. I knew exactly what was  
coming from your mouth because of the situation giving you the words."  
  
"(You liar!)" Roshi's sunglasses glitz for a moment off the light.  
  
"If I were lying to you, I wouldn't have known that you called me a  
liar." Roshi walks away, with Krillin behind him.  
  
"Did you really know what it said to you?" Roshi shook his head in a  
slight motion.  
  
"Not really. Just the general message, because he was saying a lot in  
his heart." Krillin looks at Roshi in shock.  
  
"You even knew that its male? Wow. I guess I'd like to learn how to  
do that." Roshi looks in Krillin's direction.  
  
"You already do...you just don't listen for another's thoughts. That  
is one technique in the martial arts. Knowing what your opponent has  
in mind helps you to develop a counteraction. Listen to the words  
that they speak, the movements that they make, and the emotion behind  
their actions...I'm surprised that you forgot."  
  
"Actually, you never put it bluntly like that before." Roshi falls  
over.  
  
---------------  
  
Samus was walking away from the scene along with Tien and Chiaotzu.  
She had heard Hardy yelling at Yamcha and Royce because of what had  
happened, and wanted to make it look like she was only part of the  
audience (which she was). She had almost gotten the entirety of what  
that Omega Metroid had been saying to Roshi, but it was so vulgar that  
she dared not repeat it. Roshi was also right about when it called him  
a deceitful and idiotic liar. Deceitful? She didn't know much about  
the old man. Idiotic, though? Far from it if he could understand what  
was going on. A liar? He wasn't telling any lies. A wise old master  
has no need for lies. Unless he was the 'pervert' that was being  
whispered about. As far as she knew, he dared not hit on anyone except  
Bulma, and she quite literally hit him for it every time. Maybe he  
didn't want to hit on her and not know it. Oh, the humiliation he'd  
feel.  
  
'Okay...idiotic? A little...' She looks over at Roshi and bumps into  
Nappa. "Hey! Who's-" She looks up at Nappa and a smile plays on her  
face. A smile as though she was about to burst into laughter. Nappa  
was wearing a blue formal wear outfit, with dress shorts of matching  
color and a red tie. He had the same boots on though, and looked so  
utterly ridiculous for a 7-foot-something Saiya-jin...maybe 8.  
  
"Go ahead and laugh. Vegeta's punished me for laughing at his pink  
shirt. He made me wear the one thing that I didn't want to wear out  
of all that Bulma got me." Samus stands up.  
  
"Bulma couldn't have been that mean to you...I mean, you're not an  
ego-maniac who's high on his royalty." Nappa sits on a bench.  
  
"I'm Vegeta's major-domo, for crying out loud. Did he have to do  
this to me?"  
  
"Maybe. Was he wearing the polka dotted pants?" Nappa looks at  
Samus funny.  
  
"Oddly enough...yes. He asked me if he looked like a clown in it  
and all I could do was laugh. He said that that answered his  
question enough and then punished me for it because he was still  
wearing the pink shirt after he went to put on a different pair."  
  
"No matter. Bulma probably did that to play a joke. She probably  
even thought that you'd look cute in what you're wearing." Nappa  
leans over, bug-eyed.  
  
"ME?! CUTE?! In this thing?! It's uglier than me!" Samus walks  
away, blushing.  
  
"...I'll bet."  
  
----------------  
  
Gul'Gen sat on a large pouf in the middle of the one-room apartment  
that he asked for from Keaton. He looked over at the shattered mirror  
and the fragments. The black color faded to show the Saiya-jins...but  
there were more than just the ones that he knew about. There was  
another that looked like a scarred Goku in a planet trade armor suit.  
A black-haired woman holding a dark-bladed beam sword, that had the  
appearance of a chalice. A...man(?) with lavender hair and steel gray  
eyes. Who were these other three? Aside of the ones that he saw, the  
other shards were blank. It was like watching some gigantic...plan of  
action. It was like staring Fate in the face and saying that you knew  
everything. He shifted and stood up. This was wrong. Something about  
this was very wrong. He looked at the largest shard, which while  
sitting was blank earlier. His eyes widened in terror at what he saw.  
  
Behind a black background, was a still picture of Royce. Her face was  
contorted into a manaical laugh. Was she the real villain? No, it  
couldn't be. Catocs told him not to trust what he saw as fate. He  
walked up to the broken mirror and sighed.  
  
"...What can they possibly do...? It gives me grief to see all of this.  
Hatchling...if you can...fly like an eagle, before I can't take much  
more of this...show me that you are what I trained you to be..."  
Gul'Gen shook his head and sat down in front of the mirror. Would Samus  
be that which he wanted her to be? There were many differences, and yet  
one similarity. Samus and Royce...  
  
They were both Metroid. The ultimate warrior. The vaccine did not by  
any means give Samus that name. It was the Chozo blood and the training  
to be a warrior. She had proven her experience, intelligence, power,  
and instincts to be unmatchable by any. Assistable, yet unmatchable.  
Gul'Gen sighed again. He was old, and wanted to share something with  
Ridley, since one of the things that Ridley wanted to do was be able to  
be beside Gul'Gen. He felt restless. Looking in the pieces of the  
mirror that were still on the mirror, he wanted to know what was going  
to happen.  
  
"Fate...show your face to me...show me what you desire." 


	4. Shards of the Metroids

Chapter 4: Shards Of The Metroids  
  
Gul'Gen saw a planet in the mirror. He quickly noticed that it was  
Green. He then saw a ruined space station. He gasped in the same  
wide-eyed terror that he had when he saw Royce.  
  
"That can't be!" A big fat pink being flew up in front of the  
station along with a slender green figure. (BUUUUUUU!!!) The  
rest of the broken mirror flew out as Gul'Gen covered his face to  
protect from the shards. He couldn't believe it.  
  
Alpha Centuari...destroyed by a Buu.  
  
-------------  
  
Hardy was inside of his office, twiddling his fingers expecting  
a phone call from Mr. Briefs. The call never came. He called  
Samus, Houston, Royce and Ridley to investigate West City and  
find out what had happened. On the cargo elevator, Samus looks at  
the others.  
  
"I hope that this isn't a false alarm. Hardy's done that to us a  
couple times before. He said that we were supposed to save a  
convoy the last time when he didn't notice that they already had  
things taken care of."  
  
------------  
  
Mrs. Breifs was shaking like a leaf. She couldn't believe what  
happened. Her husband was murdered by...something...and then it  
demolished the building...her house was a pile of ruins for the  
most part. Why did that green monster leave her alive? He said that  
he would be 'going against the plan' if there wasn't a witness. What  
plan? She couldn't even ask or remember its name, she was so scared.  
Samus and the others arrived to find everything that had occured and  
took Mrs. Breifs with them. Stuttering the whole way, she tried to  
recount what had happened. Mr. Breifs was killed by being sucked into  
nothing by a stinger that was on a green monster. Ridley looked away.  
  
'No. No way. Gul'Gen told me everything that he's been seeing the  
past few days...I can't believe this. That was...Cell. Everything...  
I've got to tell Catocs. He has to know what happened.' "Samus."  
Samus looks at Ridley. 'No...I shouldn't tell her. She'll act too  
early.'  
  
"What is it?" Ridley shakes his head.  
  
"N...never mind. I..." Ridley clenches a clawed fist. "..."  
  
"Sounds like Gul'Gen shook you up. If you think I'm going to act on  
this creep now, you're wrong." Ridley trips over himself.  
  
'How did she know?'  
  
"I was listening to Roshi's little lesson on the psychology of the  
martial arts. It proves rather applicable, doesn't it?"  
  
"Uhh..." Ridley looks over at Samus, dumbfounded. How did she catch  
onto that old fart so fast? Was everything falling into a respective  
place? If that was the way that things were going, then the outcome  
would be as Gul'Gen fears for Samus.  
  
----------------  
  
Maybe it was Goku's determination, but within the past week, Goku's  
training had made him many times more powerful than Vegeta. The last  
time that they sparred, Vegeta couldn't even keep up with Goku, and he  
had even said that he was holding back. Vegeta was enraged at this and  
demanded that they reserve time slots for training, since he felt that  
Goku was 'hogging' the gravity chamber. It was Vegeta's turn to take  
up all the time for training. Oh well. He figured that he might try  
his hand against Catocs again.  
  
Goku was looking around the sights of the station, having nothing  
better to do aside of looking for someone. He stops at an open court  
resutaurant and looks around. Nope, no half-nude boy with a black tail  
here...but there was Hardy, eating like always. He decided not to go  
and get something to eat, not when he was in the mood to fight. Roshi  
had taught him once that being hungry is a distraction and being full a  
vulnerability.  
  
He walked away and bumped into Catocs. Something was different, maybe  
because of what he was wearing. He was wearing a white t-shirt and  
cutoff jeans, and his arms were adorned with watches on the forearms.  
  
"Geez, you have every watch in the neighborhood?" Catocs shrugs.  
  
"I wish. So, what brings you out of the training room?" Goku goes back  
and sits at a table.  
  
"Vegeta. He thinks that I'm using it too much." Catocs sits across  
from Goku. "He says that I'm too strong. He doesn't have any idea as  
to what's going on. Ridley told me about Bulma's dad, she was with me  
when he did and she flipped out. Too bad that Vegeta didn't know. Now  
I've got Radditz and Nappa training more than him!" They both laugh.  
The 'prince' was falling behind for some reason.  
  
"Oh! Gohan said that he wanted to visit Samus again. He thinks that  
she's a babysitter or something. I had just left after Ridley told us  
about Cell."  
  
"So that was Cell, huh? We've got quite a test ahead." Catocs looks  
down.  
  
"Goku...have you been able to ascend yet?" Goku shakes his head.  
"Not enough emotional pain. You have to suffer in great anger. You  
have to desire becoming stronger than your strongest foe. That power  
will only come toward you then. Afterward, it's a matter of just  
unleashing it." They didn't notice Vegeta standing near them, lugging  
70-pound shopping bags, six of them, to the apartments that they all  
lived at, heading to Bulma's top-floor suite. So...that was going on,  
huh? They thought that he was ignorant and stupid...he would show them.  
He would ascend to the Super Saiya-jin and beat them both into the  
ground. And then he would deal with this 'Cell'.  
  
"Great anger?" Catocs looks into Goku's eyes.  
  
"Hatred, grief, rage. All at once. Alongside of a desire to be the  
strongest." 'Metroid. Ultimate Warrior. Could we possibly be Metroids  
also? The Saiya-jin were feared, persecuted because of that fear, and  
nearly made extinct because of that fear. A fear that the Saiya-jin  
would be the ultimate warriors.'  
  
---------------  
  
Samus was looking over Gohan's shoulder as he was working on his daily  
homework which he went to Samus' to do. He could be around people like  
himself, and actually concentrate when a person like Samus was breathing  
down his neck. Piccolo kept close to Gohan, too. Distant as Ridley was  
to Gul'Gen, but he had taken a shine to Gohan. Seeing innocence was an  
intrigue. Although Goku reviled him, he was still fascinated. Goku's  
innocence, courage, and near-constant newness to himself was also  
present in Gohan...along with intelligence and a lack of naivete. Gohan  
wasn't occasionally brainless like his father was.  
  
Gohan finished with his last assignment and set it in a small stack of  
papers. He turned around to face Samus, who was sitting by the wet-bar,  
the doors open. (A rarity for her.) She obviously had a lot on her mind.  
He wanted to ask about what she was thinking about, but something else  
had caught his attention. A slight tremor and the feeling of rising  
energy. He got up from the table and began to walk away.  
  
"Gohan." He stops to turn and face Samus. "Take your papers to your  
mother first." He goes back to the table.  
  
"Uh, right. Uh..." Samus goes back to a semi-entranced state. "What  
are you thinking about?" She sighs and sits at the other side of the  
table.  
  
"Sit." Gohan blinks. "If you want to know, then sit." Gohan sits  
across from Samus at the table. "Okay...how do I put this?" Samus looks  
at Piccolo as though asking for help. He glares back at her from the  
corner of his eye.  
  
"...Frankly."  
  
"Thanks a lot. Anyway, what was on my mind was about Gul'Gen. I know  
that he's been reaching the end of his days, and so he's drawn Ridley  
closer to him for something. That something, as I can guess, is about  
what he's been seeing in his old mirror, which shattered last week.  
He's been observing everything about it, the pieces, the frame, and  
everything. I never thought anything about it before. He told me what  
the last vision was. Alpha Centauri--gone. He even saw a Buu along  
with Cell. I know a little bit about Buus, but thinking about it just  
brings a number of despair to me. Buus are impossible to fight against  
unless you can overwhelm even the deepest depths of its power." Gohan  
looked like he was interested. He felt like he could do something  
against this. Gul'Gen said to Samus that Gohan would be important.  
She had no idea just how important.  
  
"Maybe you were right in telling me. I want to help." Samus looks at  
Piccolo. He knew what was coming. Perfect. He would train Gohan to  
be like him. He would use Gohan, Goku's own son, against Goku. This  
was rich. And to think that Samus was being a charity to evil for once.  
He gave her the breifcase that had the money that he still had for a  
while. Saying that he would pay her to train Gohan. This was  
interesting. Piccolo had no need for money, so he was just passing it  
off.  
  
--------------  
  
Goku couldn't feel it. The power that he searched for. He was going at  
it for an hour now, and starting to feel tired. But then he noticed  
Gohan standing beside Piccolo. Just what was going on here? Piccolo   
must have been overconfident about his new plan.  
  
"Hey, Goku. I'll bet you don't expect to have your own son as an enemy  
against you. It's more exciting to me. Having Gohan under me and him  
being the one to destroy you. Just stay out of my way." This lit a  
fuse. Goku didn't want Piccolo hurting or taking away his son. He  
didn't want his son to be evil. He didn't want any of this. He was  
enraged.  
  
Goku's face was contorted in hate. He wasn't terrified, he was  
seething. Why would Piccolo even bother? He wasn't half as strong as  
Goku was now, and Gohan couldn't catch up to him that fast. But the  
thought of his own son being used against him made him madder than  
when he was trying to improve to defeat Catocs. He could feel it now,  
he knew what it was this time. He wanted so badly to keep his son away  
from Piccolo. What if the same thing happened with Cell? What if Cell  
took Gohan away from him?  
  
He didn't feel like he was losing anything. He didn't feel like there  
was anything to lose. He thought that Piccolo had changed. He screamed  
at the top of lungs as he got hold of that power that surged out of his  
rage and drew it out. Gul'Gen felt the surge from his room.  
  
It was done. Gohan's role was done. Goku was a Super Saiya-jin. 


End file.
